God of Wonders, Pt. 5: "The King of Glory"

THE KING OF GLORY (PSALMS 24:7-10)

A fifth grade teacher in a Christian school asked her class to look at TV commercials and see if they could use them in some way to communicate ideas about God. Here are some of the results from the kids:
God is like BAYER ASPIRIN ... He works miracles.
God is like a FORD ... He’s got a better idea.
God is like COKE ... He’s the real thing.
God is like HALLMARK CARDS ... He cares enough to send His very best.
God is like TIDE ... He gets the stains out that others leave behind.
God is like GENERAL ELECTRIC ... He brings good things to life.
God is like SEARS ... He has everything.
God is like ALKA-SELTZER ... Try Him, you’ll like Him.
God is like SCOTCH TAPE ... You can’t see him, but you know He’s there.
God is like DELTA ... He’s ready when you are.
God is like ALLSTATE ... You’re in good hands with Him.
God is like VO-5 HAIR SPRAY ... He holds through all kinds of weather.
God is like DIAL SOAP ... Aren’t you glad you have Him. Don’t you wish everybody did.
http://bitsandpieces.blogstream.com/v1/pid/42398_What-is-God-Like.html

The Hebrew word “glory” is most exclusive to God and yet an ordinary word describing earthly things. The Hebrew word for glory or “kabod” is used to describe Aaron’s priestly robes (Ex 28:2), the reign of kings such as David (1 Chron 17:18, 29:28), Jehoshaphat (2 Chron 17:5), Hezekiah (2 Chron 32:27) and even Gentile king Xerxes (Est 1:4), and the splendor of countries such as Moab (Isa 16:14), Israel (Isa 17:3) and Lebanon (Isa 35:2). The same word for man’s glory is used of God’s glory. But God’s glory is unlike man’s glory.

What is God’s glory like? How is it different from man’s glory? Why is His glory eternal?

He is Majestic and His Glory Cannot be Shared
7 Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. (Ps 24:7)

One of the most enigmatic and controversial figures in Chinese church history is Watchman Nee, who had such a stranglehold on his church and denomination that it became unhealthy, overbearing and even cult-like. His nephew Stephen Chan, son of Nee’s eldest sister, a prolific writer whose commentaries are widely read and used in Chinese churches, tells of his experience with the group in his Chinese book “My Uncle Watchman Nee.” He said in 1948 he was inclined upon his seminary graduation to join the “Little Flock” group because he enjoyed reading his uncle’s books, since he had bought and read all the books, magazines and tracts his uncle had wrote, but decided otherwise upon contact with the group.

Chan said, “When I returned to Fuzhou that year my greatest disappointment was that I felt some in the group worshipped God but many there definitely “worshipped” their idol. We would regularly hear ‘Brother Nee said’ and not ‘God said.’ It seems that ‘Brother Nee said’ had more authority than ‘The Bible said.’”

He continued, “If I have to write all I heard of the ‘mythical stories’ of Brother Nee, these little booklets would immediately become a giant volume, but praise God I forget them all because they make people’s stomachs upset (fan wei). To turn someone just like us in condition to be like God is outright sin.” (My Uncle Watchmen Nee 50, Alliance Press)

One of the most unique attributes of God, more unique than the word “holy,” is the word “glory.” Few words are as exclusive to God as the word “glory.” Kings and queens call themselves “Your majesty” and “Your Highness.” The Catholic church has claimed many; the Pope has the title “Your Holiness,” the bishop is called “Your Grace” and the Cardinal “Your Eminence.” Earthly judges are called “Your Honor.” No one, however, is his right frame of mind demands to be addressed as “Your Glory.” Why?

The Bible tells us that man’s glory come from God and is given or bestowed by God (1 Chron 29:12, Ps 3:3), but it cannot be shared. Man is the beneficiary of God’s glory but God alone is the benefactor. We reap life’s bounteous benefits but God is life’s Benevolent Benefactor. The Bible tells us that while others freely use the word “glory,” only God’s name is glorious, holy or praiseworthy (Neh 9:5, Ps 66:2, 72:19, 145:21).

Not only is our God glorious and praiseworthy, He is the King of glory. In fact, to my surprise from my study, there are only a few kingly names God outright agrees to, admits to and acquiesce to. The Hebrew word for “king” is used 2523 times in the Old Testament but it is not popular with God - not at all, because of the limited scope of the word in ancient settings and in Old Testament times. The word “king” was used of rulers from local chiefs to national leaders and Gentile monarchs. The king we worship is not the king of a secular country or earthly domain, but of eternal and never-ending glory.

In fact, the word “king” is never used of God in the historical books until the exilic period, where the kingdom was no more. Truth to be told, God was never addressed as “king” in the time of Abraham, Moses or Samuel; it started with David’s coronation as king. Ironically, God acknowledged Himself as Jacob’s King (Isa 41:21), Israel’s King (Isa 44:6) and King of the nations (Jer 10:7) only after the local king was dethroned and the Jewish monarchy had ended, to show that He was now the rightful King and that there would be no confusion with Israel’s kings that are temporary, transitory and toppled.

The kingly tribute to God, however, was significant in poetry, significantly in the book of Psalms, where the celebration of God as King made its debut and found its voice and place 20 times, but not according to popular tribal thinking. The favorite kingly title in the Old Testament is also in Psalms, in Psalms 24, where the phrase “the King of glory” occurs five times (Ps 24:7, 8, 9, 10, 10). True to form, the king word is associated with His attribute and nature, who He is and how He wants to be known. God rejects the notion He is King of any countryside, city or country. The kings of the earth are wicked, weak and worthless. Any outright kingly association with a country is unintended, regrettable and erroneous.

Most shockingly, God rejects even being “King” of His beloved Israel and Judah until they were no more. Most of the kingly titles ascribed to God are in Psalms. In Psalms He is never simply “King” per se in Hebrew, but always “the King” (Ps 98:6, 145:1), “our King” (Ps 47:6, 89:18), “King forever” (Ps 10:16, 29:10) – twice each; “their King” (Ps 149:2), “King of all the earth” (Ps 47:7), “King of glory” (Ps 24:7, 8, 9, 10), “great King” (Ps. 48:2), “great King over all the earth” (Ps 47:2), “great King above all gods” (Ps 95:3) – once each; and more affectionately and commonly known as “My king” (Ps 2:6, 5:2, 44:4, 68:24, 74:12, 84:3) – six references. “My king” refers to a personal relationship with God – with emphasis on the word “my.”

In the New Testament, Jesus accepts the kingly title “The King of the Jews” (Matt 27:11) when asked; again a nod to the people and not the nation – its government, territory and politics.

He is Mighty and His Glory Cannot Be Stopped
8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. (Ps 24:8)

When Mike Kollin was a linebacker for the Dolphins and a graduate of Auburn University, his former college coach, Shug Jordan, asked him if he would do some recruiting for him. Mike said, “Sure, coach. What kind of player are you looking for?”

The coach said, “Well, Mike, you know there’s that fellow, you knock him down, he just stays down?” Mike said, “We don’t want him, do we, coach?” “No, that’s right. Then there’s that fellow, you knock him down and he gets up, but you knock him down again and he stays down.” Mike answered, “We don’t want him either, do we, coach?” Coach said, “No, but Mike, there’s a fellow, you knock him down, he gets up. Knock him down, he gets up. Knock him down, he gets up. Knock him down, he gets up.” Mike said, “That’s the guy we want, isn’t it, coach?” The coach answered, “No, we don’t want him either. I want you to find that guy who’s knocking everybody down. That’s the guy we want!”(James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited p. 466, Tyndale).

To understand the King of glory, one would have to understand his strength. What does it mean to say the Lord is strong? Is he strong like coffee or medicine? Is he as strong as an ox? Like Samson or Hercules?

There is nothing as strong as the Lord in battle array (v 8), on a rampage and in a militant mode. The Hebrew word “kabod” or “glory” appears about 200 times in Hebrew. Kabod refers to the great physical weight or “quantity” of a thing, but the word does not mean simply “heavy,” but “fullness,” “excellence” and “meritorious-ness.” He is the heavyweight; fully packed and fully backed. In the New Testament, the difference between the glory of Christ and the glory of His creation is simply that his glory is eternal (1 Peter 5:10) and great (Matt 24:30); other words of glory is just “glory.” His glory is changeless, ageless, endless, timeless, boundless.

The word “strong” and the word “mighty” are common words in the Bible but the phrase “strong and mighty” is excusive to the King of glory. The word “strong” is not the regular Hebrew word for “strong” that occurs 92 times in the Bible; this word is used only twice (Ps 24:8, Is 43:17), meaning not only strong but forcible, used for an army. It comes from the root idea of prevailing or overpowering (Judg 6:2, Ps 9:19), overpowering (Judg 3:10) and triumphant (Ps 9:19, Dan 11:12). God is not only strong, but He is unstoppable, uncontrollable and untiring. He’ll come as a one-person army, a lone ranger, a wandering swordsman. It’ll be the most lopsided one-on-one win. He’ll be the heavy favorite, crushing enemies single-handedly. The Lord is a one-person wrecking ball, crew and machine.

Further, God’s glory means that He is every inch and indication who He said He is – and more. The Lord is not just a competitor, he’s a conqueror; he’s not just a wrestler, he’s a winner; he’s not just a contestant, challenger or contender; he’s the champion, the punisher, the finisher.

Of course, strong is not strong if it is not battle strong. The word “mighty” calls back to the days and glory associated with warriors and champions (Ps 19:5). The angels that do His bidding are mighty (Ps 103:20). The lion king, who retreats before nothing, is mighty among beasts (Prov 30:30).

He is Matchless and His Glory Cannot Be Surpassed
9 Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty--he is the King of glory. (Ps 24:9-10)

The King of glory He is also known as the Lord of Almighty, or the “Lord of Hosts” in most other translations. What is meant by “Lord of hosts,” especially the “hosts” word? The word is used for the starry host of heaven (Deut 4:19, Ps 33:6, Isa 34:4) and for heavenly hosts of angels (Ps 103:20-21).

According to Wikipedia, astronomers count and classify stars by temperature, size, age, location and multiplicity (or companion star). Astronomers estimate that there are 300 billion stars in our own Milky Way and at least 70 sextillion (7×1022) stars in the known universe. That is 70 000 000 000 000 000 000 000, or 230 billion times as many as the stars in our own galaxy. The Sun is the biggest and nearest star to Earth. The nearest star to the Earth, apart from the Sun, is Proxima Centauri, which is 39.9 trillion kilometers, or it takes Proxima Centauri 4.2 years to reach Earth. Traveling at the orbit speed of the Space Shuttle, at 5 miles per second or almost 30,000 kilometers per hour, it would take about 150,000 years to get there. Stars range in size from the tiny neutron stars (dead stars) no bigger than a city, to super giants like the North Star (Polaris) and Betelgeuse, in the Orion constellation, which have a diameter about 1,000 times larger than the Sun—about 1.6 billion kilometers.

The fantastic thing is that even all the starry host in heaven in their heavenly array is just singular, compared to the Lord of hosts – the word “hosts” is plural.

This plural usage for God includes about 250 times the title “Lord Almighty,” three times the shorter “God Almighty” (Ps 80:7, 80:14, Amos 5:27), more than 30 times the longer “the Lord God Almighty” (2 Sam 5:10, Ps 59:5, 69:6, 80:4, 80:19, Isa 3:15, 10:23, 10:24, 22:5, 22:12, 22:14, 28:22, Jer 2:19, 5:14, 15:16, 35:17, 38:17, 44:7, 46:10, 46:10, 49:5, 50:25, 50:31, Hos 12:5, Amos 4:13, 5:14, 5:15, 5:16, 6:8, 6:14, 9:5) and only one time the longest “hosts” title - Lord GOD, the God of hosts (Amos 3:13).

Also to my surprise the more the Israelites were persecuted the more the Lord of hosts spoke to them and for them. While the Lord of hosts is exalted and praised in the Psalms, it is not in Psalms that the word is most meaningful. Psalms, written before the exile and at the zenith of David’s kingdom, makes a mere 15 references in 150 chapters to the phrase “the Lord of hosts.” Shockingly, the phrase the Lord of hosts is most prominent in the exile and post-exile period, where the prophets comforted the people in their suffering. Isaiah used the phrase an astonishing 64 times, followed by Zechariah 53 times, 24 times in Malachi’s short book of four chapters, 14 times in Haggai’s shorter book of two chapters. So chapter for chapter, the post-exilic prophet Haggai spoke more about the Lord of hosts then the exilic prophets or the pre-exilic Psalms. One can say that it is not in the calm of the Psalms or the storm of the exile but in the calm after the storm that the Lord of hosts is most prominent and most personal to the people of God.

Conclusion: The Westminster Confession says that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” There is only one occasion of “great power and glory” in the Bible attested by the gospels - when the Son of Man comes (Matt 24:30, Mark 13:26, Luke 21:27) to claim His regal title as “King of kings and Lord of lord” (1 Tim 6:15, Rev 19:16). When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the sheep from the goats (Matt 25:31-32). All the nations of the earth will mourn when they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory (Matt 24:30), and He will reward each person according to what he has done (Matt 16:27). Then we will behold the glory of the Son of God that is forever (Rom 11:36, 16:27, Gal 1:5, Eph 3:21, Phil 4:20, 1 Tim 1:17, Heb 13:21, 1 Peter 4:11, 5:11, 2 Peter 3:18, Rev 1:6). Jesus says, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). Are you willing to give glory to Him now or be forced to give it later? The question is not how much you know about His glory, but is He coming for you? Do you glorify His name, His salvation and majesty?